


The Big Mac That Changed The Lives Of Two Men

by PineapplesForDays



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Genji and Hanzo Aren't Siblings, M/M, McHanzo - Freeform, Modern AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-01
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-01-28 02:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12596424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PineapplesForDays/pseuds/PineapplesForDays
Summary: Jesse had had a rough day and he just wanted his big mac. He wasn't expecting the manager, that he planned on yelling at, to be quite as handsome as he was.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Tags are hard, if you think of any I should include let me know!

Hanzo sighed as he buttoned up his shirt, he was scheduled to work today but he absolutely hated his job. Working as a manager at McDonalds wasn't exactly what he planned on doing at 38. 

This isn't how his life had always been though, about a year back he was a world renown professional archer who competed all around the globe and placed first every competition he entered. He was set to be the best archer in the world until his sensei, Mihara Haru, forced him to do something he never wanted. 

Haru-san had been his first and only sensei and had stuck with him through every competition. When a new competitor came onto the scene a few years back named Genji, his sensei seemed to hold some kind of grudge against the young man, always complaining about him and saying how he didn’t deserve to be here. The ebony-haired archer wasn’t too terribly worried though, the younger man was good but Hanzo was better, so the Japanese man learned to tune out the master archer when he got going. 

Then one day the older man forced Hanzo to listen. He started telling him that the new competitor needed to be dealt with before he became good enough to surpass the superior archer's expertise. He would tell the younger man this every training session and every competition until his student started to believe it too. His sensei had spread his hate for the green haired archer to Hanzo and he was beginning to hate the other man as much as Haru-san did. 

He allowed Haru-san to continue to fill his head with this hate for the younger archer so when his sensei told him he needed to deal with the problem of Genji, Hanzo didn’t hesitate to do just that. The two men waited for their opportunity to bring his opponent down. 

It happened at one of the competitions, Genji had mistakenly left his bow unattended, sensei saw and told Hanzo to tamper with it before he came back so when he went to fire the bow it wouldn't shoot straight. The student told him he didn't know how because Genji's bow was an entirely different model from his own and so, Haru-san told him what to do. Hanzo felt wrong the whole time, bows were not something to be tampered with, but he did it anyway because he believed Genji needed to be dealt with and if he couldn’t hit the target he couldn’t compete at such a high level, if at all. 

Hanzo returned to his sensei and watched as Genji came back to retrieve his bow. Both men watched as the green haired archer stepped up to the line and aimed down at the targets. He went to pull the drawstring back and then it happened. The screw Hanzo had loosened appeared to be one that held the drawstring in place so when the younger man pulled it back the screw couldn't withstand the pressure and the drawstring snapped back. 

The sound it made when it collided with Genji's jaw was sickening. There was a loud snap and crunch before the blood started to pour from his face. The green haired man dropped his bow and collapsed onto the floor before people started rushing in. Hanzo was frozen in place, this wasn’t what he wanted, he wanted the aim of the bow to be skewed he didn't want the younger man hurt. 

Hanzo's sensei pulled him backstage where the ebony-haired man turned on him. Haru-san admitted he knew what would happen and he had wanted a more permanent solution that just a lack of aim for one competition. Hanzo was livid with this man who he trusted explicitly using him to hurt someone else. The younger man fired the sensei right then and told him he never wanted to see him again. That he was not to come to anymore competitions and that he was not his sensei any longer. 

Hanzo thought that was going to be the end of it until his next competition where he was stopped at the doors and ushered off to a closed off area where he was told that cameras had caught him tampering with Genji's bow and how he was probably going to end up in prison for the injury to the other archer. 

In the end Genji didn't press charges after he heard the whole story and so Hanzo avoided jail time but he was also banned from competing in any archery competitions for the rest of his life. 

The older archer could not fathom why the younger man hadn't pressed charges. When he saw Genji he had his jaw wired shut and couldn’t even speak. His entire lower face was covered so he couldn’t see the extent of the injury but he saw it happen, he knew it was bad. 

Hanzo shook himself out of the haunting memory, he had lost everything, his sensei, his career in archery, and any hope of doing something impressive with his life. The Japanese man still practiced with his bow as often as he could but he didn’t have any other marketable skills aside from archery. He'd managed to land the manager position about two months after the incident. 

Hanzo parked his car before walking into the McDonalds on Horton Ave. Adjusting his shirt he went behind the counter and right into the back to check on everything for the day. He sighed again when he realized the freezer order needed to be placed and went off to find a coat. 

~~~ 

Jesse stomped his way out to his truck to head home for the evening. Today had been a hard day and he just wanted to go home. He loved his job as an instructor at the firing range but some days just got to him. First there was the young purple haired girl who tried to steal one of the semi-automatic pistols from the range after her session. 

Then there was the gamer who wanted to see how hard it was to fire guns in real life as opposed to her video games. She didn’t take the lesson seriously at all and wouldn’t listen to a single thing Jesse had told her. She insisted on trying to fire the gun sideways like a gangster even after Jesse told her that was a horribly unsafe way to hold a gun. 

Then the older solider that ran the front desk while Jesse was in the back instructing called in saying he had some "personal business" he needed to attend to. After 20 minutes on the phone Jesse was able to convince the young DJ that sometimes helped them out to come in and cover the front desk. Jesse liked the DJ well enough but he insisted on listening to his techno pop music very loudly when there were no customers in the store and even when there were customers the music was only slightly quieter. 

The end of the day brought a very stuck up French woman into his shop. She had on deep blue lipstick and a glare that made you feel stupid. She was looking at the selection of sniper rifles they had at the range to practice with. She went through every one and explained to Jesse how she had already mastered it and how she could probably out shoot him any day. 

Any remark Jesse came back with just resulted in a scoff from the woman and a story of all the impressive shots she's made with her unnamed organization. By the sounds of some of the stories she wasn’t exactly working for the French military.

Jesse was exhausted and hungry. He was thinking about what he was going to have for dinner when the golden arches came into his view. A big mac and some french fries sounded really good after the day he'd had. He knew he shouldn’t but he deserved it after listening to the French woman go on and on for close to two hours. So, when the drive way came up Jesse found himself turning in the McDonald's drive thru. 

He sat in the line, ordered his food, paid, and got his food all in about 15 minutes which was a bit long but Jesse didn’t mind. He pulled up and stopped so he could check his order before getting all the way home and realizing they'd screwed something up. He let out and exasperated sigh, he'd ordered a big mac not a single with cheese. He didn’t even know how they could've possibly messed that up that bad. He parked his truck and went inside. 

He waited until the cashier was able to talk to him which took another 10 minutes as the store was busy. At this point Jesse's patience was wearing thin. When the dark-haired woman at the counter turned to him her face looked as if she would rather be anywhere but here. 

Jesse glanced at her as he sat the bag on the counter, "I just went through the drive thru and I ordered a big mac and they gave me a single cheeseburger." 

The woman glanced at the burger in his hand and with a very clipped tone asked if he had his receipt. He handed it to her and she looked it over before handing it back. With the same tone she said, "it says right there single with cheese now if you'd like to order something different I'm going to need you to do so as I have customers waiting." 

Jesse looked over the receipt and saw that it did say single with cheese. He looked back up at, her name tag read 'Satya' and continued, "okay, but that is not what I ordered." 

Her expression didn’t change, "I'm sorry sir but that’s what the receipt says so if you'd like to get something different please order it, you're holding up the line and I need to help the next person." 

Jesse's patience was gone now he just wanted to get his big mac and go home. He'd already spent way more time at this store than he had wanted and he still didn’t have the food he ordered. Jesse wasn’t usually one to make a fuss but he'd had a rough day and he wanted someone to fix this mess so he could go home. He asked to speak with the manager and the woman just looked at him for a second before turning and going off. A moment later she returned, "He will be up momentarily." Jesse stood at the end of the counter and waited for the manager growing more irritable by the minute. 

~~~ 

Hanzo hated freezer orders. It was stupid cold in the freezer and his hands always felt like ice cubes when he was done. The order usually didn’t take very long but today it seemed to be taking forever. When he was just about halfway done the door opened and Satya was standing on the other side. "There's a customer up front who wishes to speak to you." Hanzo nodded and the door closed, that was just great, he wasn’t going to be able to finish the order before he'd have to talk to the customer so he was going to warm up and then have to go right back in the freezer. He'd much rather just get the order done so he could leave the freezer and not have to go back in. 

He left the freezer and set down the order and his coat before making his way to the front. He hated having to deal with customer complaints. Most of the time the complaint was for something stupid or something that wasn't the store's fault. Most of the time the customer would expect the item replaced or refunded when it was their fault their clumsy kid dropped their cheeseburger on the ground. Hanzo took a deep breath and approached the counter. 

~~~ 

Jesse had turned his back to the counter to watch all of the people enjoying their meals. After another 6 or 7-minute wait Jesse heard a voice behind him that had an eastern infliction to it so when he turned around he was expecting to see the Japanese man, what he wasn't expecting was to see one of the most beautiful men he'd ever laid eyes on. 

The manager was standing behind him all dark eyes, broad shoulders, and lovely lips. His black hair was pulled back with a golden ribbon and his name tag read 'Hanzo'. The expression on the manager's face reminded him of the young woman who went off to get him, he looked like he would rather be anywhere but here. The cowboy had intended to sound angry but once he managed to speak the only sound that came out was a quiet 'oh' and the manager just raised his eyebrow before asking again what he could help him with. 

Jesse tried to get his mouth to work but he was having a hard time of it. The only thought running through his head was 'get his number' on repeat and the brunette was having a hard time remembering why else he was here.

The manager spoke again, "Sir, I am very busy so, if I can help you with something you need to tell me what it is." 

Jesse blinked a couple times and looked down at the bag on the counter, "I got the wrong order, I ordered a big mac but the receipt says single with cheese and I definitely said big mac in the drive thru." 

"May I see your receipt?" He handed the Japanese man the receipt and he looked it over. He glanced up at the cowboy before turning and walking off into the back calling 'one moment' over his shoulder. 

Jesse stood there dazed and slightly breathless. When he had handed Hanzo the receipt he could've swore he saw a bit of blue ink peeking out from under his sleeve. He would love to be able to see what Hanzo's tattoo was, he could only imagine it was as beautiful as the man who bore it. 

The manager returned a few minutes later with the same expression on his face and a freshly boxed big mac in his hand. He placed it in the bag folded over the top and handed it to Jesse. He took it but didn’t move from the counter. 

Hanzo raised his eyebrow again, "is there anything else I can do for you today?" 

Jesse blinked a couple times and then blurted, "can I get your number?" It probably came out a little louder than it needed to. 

The manager just leveled his gaze at him before responding, "no", and quickly turning away from the brunette. As he walked back behind the counter he called back, "have a nice day" and then he was gone. 

Jesse stood there dumbstruck with his bag in hand for a moment before a grin split his face and he turned to leave the store. He wasn’t going to give up so easily on the Japanese man. He would have to be shot down at least three more times before Hanzo would be left alone, Jesse was amazingly good at handling rejection. He exited the store, got in his truck, and started home. 

~~~ 

Hanzo returned to the freezer. He wasn’t surprised that the brunette's order was wrong, they had a new person running drive thru. He was a tall scrawny kid with blonde hair that was always sticking straight off his head and his entire body always seemed to almost shake when he was standing still. He was doing alright but he hadn't quite mastered the register yet. 

He was surprised, however, by the man's parting request. His number. Naturally to call him at a later date he assumed, that was why most people asked for someone else's number. It wasn’t that the man was unattractive, he had a scruffy handsomeness to him, with soft looking hair, a plush body, and beautiful eyes. He wore a flannel and a cowboy hat but on him it didn’t look as ridiculous as it maybe should have. It just kind of caught Hanzo by surprise and he turned him down out of habit. 

He couldn’t decide if he was upset or not that he'd turned the brunette down. He tried not to dwell on it too much, he figured he'd never see the man again and turned his full attention to the clip board in his hands so he could get the order done and get out of the freezer.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jesse tries two more times to convince the manager to give him a chance and Hanzo tries to figure out what's holding him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I was sleep deprived when I titled this and wrote the first summary. I just laughed the next day when I reread it.

A week later Hanzo was back at McDonalds, as was to be expected, but now he was stuck doing his absolute least favorite thing in the restaurant. Running register. The cashier for this shift had called out sick, she was extremely apologetic, but 'sorry' didn’t help Hanzo find someone to cover her shift. He was unable to get someone to come in and so he was stuck on register for the foreseeable future. 

He put in no effort to screw his face into the smile that all cashiers were supposed to wear. He couldn’t see a reason to, he was the manager, so who was going to yell at him? He thought about switching places with the drive thru cashier because that required less contact with the customers but the new kid, Jamison, seemed to be getting into a groove and he didn’t want to mess him up so, he suffered in the front of the store. 

There hadn't been an order for five minutes and so Hanzo had wandered away from the register to check on the back of the store. He kept an eye on the front counter and as soon as he saw someone waiting he was heading right back up. 

He started, "Welcome to Mcdonalds, may I-" but stopped when he saw who his customer was. It was the brunette with the eyes from before and he had this sly grin on his face. 

"Looks like I'm the one that took your words away this time" 

The cowboy's smile didn’t falter as Hanzo returned his face to its neutral look, "what can I get you, sir?" 

His smile seemed to get a bit bigger as he responded, "how 'bout your number, to go?" 

Hanzo made sure that his face didn’t change as he responded, " I apologize sir but we appear to be all out of that right now but, if you would like, you can come back never, it should be in then." 

The man's face morphed into mock shock, "well now, I cannot believe this customer service! Ya know what, I want the number of your manager right now, I'd like to make a complaint!" 

Hanzo just leveled his gaze at him once more, "sir, are you going to order something or not?" 

"Jesse" 

A look of puzzlement crossed Hanzo's features, he didn’t know what the man was talking about so he just waited for him to continue or explain himself. 

The brunette chuckled, "my name, darlin'. My name is Jesse, nice to meet ya." 

The cowboy held his hand out across the counter for Hanzo to shake and he reached for it, uncertain, as he replied, "I see, well in that case, Jesse, are you going to order something or not?" 

Jesse chuckled again, "ya, alright, a large fry and a 20-piece nugget, to go, please." 

Hanzo punched the order into the computer, "no big mac this time? After the fuss you threw last time?" 

The man, Jesse, scoffed, "I didn't throw that big of a fuss." 

Hanzo ducked his head a moment to hide the small smile that crept onto his features before taking Jesse's money and handing him his change without another comment. When the order was ready he once more handed him his bag, "have a good evening, Jesse" 

Jesse smiled at him, big and genuine, "you too Hanzo, I hope to see you again soon." 

He winked as he left and Hanzo told himself it didn’t affect him at all. His attention returned to the line of customers but his mind wandered a bit as he took the orders and typed them into the register. He had a name to put to the face now, Jesse, it seemed to suit him and he found himself glad that the flannel wearing stranger had come back to see him again. 

Hanzo was pretty sure he had only turned down Jesse's request this time on principle rather than an actual desire for the dark-skinned man to go away. Jesse had said 'I hope to see you again soon' which Hanzo was starting to hope would mean he would be able to see the brunette again. The next time he might even cave and give him his number. He didn’t really want to chance the other man taking his rejections seriously and not coming back as the ebony-haired man had no way of finding him. 

~~~ 

It was mighty lucky that the last time he had gone to McDonalds Hanzo had been up front running register. Made talking to him that much easier. Again, he had come away numberless but that was only attempt two out of four and he was nothing if not persistent. His persistence is what had him walking into the McDonalds on Horton once more. 

He asked the cashier if Hanzo was working right now and was pleased to learn he was, two previous attempts had been thwarted because Hanzo wasn’t actually in the store. So, he ordered and waited a second before he turned back to the cashier whose name tag read 'Lena'. 

"What do I have to do to get the manager to bring my food to a table? My leg's been hurtin' me somethin' fierce and I'd love to be able to sit down." 

The bubbly young cashier replied, "that's alright luv, Hanzo shouldn’t be too busy, I'm sure he wouldn't mind runnin' your food to you if you wanna take the weight offa your leg." 

Her brunette hair was short and messy and the British accent to her voice made her sound even more chipper. 

Jesse tipped his hat at her, "much obliged, young lady", then turned and found a table that had a view of the front counter. 

He didn’t have a problem with his leg he just needed an excuse to get Hanzo at his table but he propped his leg up on one of the chairs at the table in hopes that Hanzo wouldn’t figure him out quite so quickly. 

A moment later he saw Hanzo come up to the perky woman and she said something to him and then pointed over at Jesse. The cowboy pulled his hat down to block his view of Hanzo so the man would have to come to his table to reject him. After a moment he heard footsteps stop next to his table and looked up to see the beautiful man standing above him looking down with the same bored look on his face which Jesse was starting to think was just his neutral expression. 

"Jesse, why are you making me bring your food to you?" 

Jesse pushed his hat up on his head, "cause I'm injured darlin'!" 

Hanzo's expression didn’t change, "your leg is fine, you and I both know this." 

Jesse chuckled before dropping his leg down, "guess ya caught me, care ta have a seat?" 

Much to Jesse's surprise Hanzo actually sat down across from him and set the food on the table between them. The cowboy had decided that he was going to change up his tactic a little bit this time and set out to try and convince the Japanese man to go out with him. 

Jesse grinned," you know, I'd love to do this again sometime but maybe when you're not working and at a classier restaurant." 

Hanzo regarded him, "and what makes you think I would want to see you outside of the times you come here to pester me while I am working?" 

"Well, I'm sure ya knew who ya were bringin' food to before ya came over, yet ya still came over, and now here you're sittin' across from me which makes it look like I'm not as much of a bother as ya say I am." 

Hanzo seemed to let that roll around his head, "I suppose you are right, I could have gotten anybody back there to bring your food over." 

"But ya didn't" 

Hanzo replied with a simple 'no' and then went quiet for a bit looking at the food on the table seemingly lost in thought. Jesse didn’t know what the ebony-haired man was doing so he sat quietly with him munching on the fries on the tray. 

After a moment Hanzo seemed to snap out of his thoughts and stood from the chair "well, have a good night, Jesse, I am sure I will see you again." 

He walked back towards the counter and disappeared into the back before the cowboy had a chance to respond. Jesse let out a sigh as he unwrapped his burger, Hanzo hadn't even given him an answer he just kind of left without any kind of yes or no. 

On the bright side Jesse still had one more chance to try and win over the Japanese man. 

As he ate he kept one eye on the counter to see if Hanzo would reappear. He didn’t, so Jesse cleaned up and headed out, he was going to need something impressive for his last attempt and it might require some planning, best to get started sooner rather than later. 

~~~ 

Hanzo stood behind the ice cream machine and watched Jesse where he knew the brunette wouldn’t be able to see him. His mind was running in circles. Jesse had upped his request from his number to an actual date. It wasn’t that big of a deal, Jesse having his number would probably result in a date anyway so in essence this request was just cutting out the middle man and yet it still had Hanzo apprehensive. 

The most frustrating part was Hanzo didn’t even know why he kept refusing Jesse at this point. He had already decided he liked the cowboy and he didn’t mind being in his company and yet when given the chance to spend more time with him he just ignored the question like it didn’t exist and essentially ran away. 

While Hanzo was trying to sort through his thoughts Jesse had left. Hanzo sincerely hoped this wouldn’t be their last meeting and as he watched him walk out the door his heart felt heavy. He liked the idea of the flannel clad man hanging around and the thought of not seeing him again made his chest feel tight. He'd only seen the man three times and yet it already felt like Jesse had left a mark on his life. 

He tried again to figure out what was stopping him from accepting Jesse. It wasn’t the job, obviously, Jesse already knew where he worked and that hadn't stopped the flirting. He pondered it more and then it dawned on him. 

It was Genji. 

What happened with Genji was the lowest point in Hanzo's life. It was the worst thing he had ever done and there was no excuse good enough to explain away his actions. He didn’t want Jesse too close to that information because surely no one would be able to forgive him for it and yet... 

Genji had. 

He had said that he understood why Hanzo had done it. He understood what a negative outside force could do to someone's thinking. How it could lead to an irreversible mistake. Hanzo hated himself for allowing Haru-san to warp his morals and he hated himself even more for what his actions had done to the other archer. 

He could not fathom why the green-haired archer had forgiven him and why he hadn't pressed charges. He had destroyed part of his face and caused him a substantial amount of pain. Hanzo had not kept up with the man after he had dropped the charges. He did not know if he was able to speak, if he was still able to compete, or why he hadn't pressed charges. 

Hanzo must've been standing in the same place for a while because he felt a light touch on his arm and when he looked at the person next to him he realized it was Satya. There was a look of worry across her neutral expression and she asked him if everything was alright. He allowed his mind to come back to the here and now and assured Satya he was fine. 

He finished out the rest of his shift in a daze and was only vaguely aware of how he got to his apartment. Before he knew what his hands were doing he was in front of his laptop typing 'Genji Mashida' into the search bar. Immediately his screen was filled with numerous articles and clips of the man at different competitions. 

He clicked on the first one that had come up and the article was from the competition a few weeks back. It had the green-haired archer standing at the firing line with his bow drawn taught. The article read 'Mashida wins gold at Milan competition.' He clicked another article 'Mashida comes out on top in Gibraltar' accompanied with a straight on picture of Genji holding his bow and medal. He had some kind of silver mask covering the bottom half of his face and Hanzo could not tell if he was able to speak or not from the picture alone. 

At least it appeared that he was still competing. Hanzo let out a relieved sigh. He was truly worried that Genji would give up archery after the injury and then Hanzo's actions would've ruined two careers. He had already ruined the other man's face he didn’t think he'd be able to handle it if he had ruined his career as well. 

He clicked on a few more links and was able to find an interview of Genji. He watched it and paid close attention to how the younger archer was able to speak. His voice sounded different than it had and it had a bit of a robotic undertone to it. Hanzo didn’t understand exactly what it was on his face but he figured it somehow helped him to speak. Throughout the entire interview Genji was understandable if slightly metallic. 

The question that still lingered was why had the green-haired archer had forgiven him and dropped the charges? Hanzo wanted to know his answer and so he changed his search to 'contact Genji Mashida' an email address was available for anyone who wanted to get in touch with the archer. 

Hanzo was glad it was an email address and not a number. He didn’t think he could handle communicating with the other man so directly. 

He typed out a quick message, nothing too fancy just who he was and his question. He read it over a second time to make sure it made sense and hit send. He let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. 

Hopefully he would have an answer soon and hopefully that answer would be able to bring him some peace of mind. Until then he just had to be patient and try not to chew all of his nails down to the quick.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hanzo gets some much needed answers while Jesse puts together the ultimate plan to get Hanzo to go out with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I bumped this from 3 chapters to 4 but to be honest the last "chapter" is more an epilogue so it'll be shorter than the other chapters.

Jesse had decided what his last attempt was going to be. If the Japanese man wouldn’t go on a date with him he'd bring the date to the other man. Planning wasn’t too hard he just had to pick a blanket, fill a picnic basket, figure out where to set up, and know when Hanzo was to get off of work one day next week.

That last part was the tricky one. He had no way of knowing Hanzo's schedule and he couldn’t exactly ask the man without being obvious. He didn’t think the bored looking woman, Satya, would give him anything but the British woman, Lena, might be willing to help him out.

Jesse had to admit it was hard trying to time it just right so he was there while Lena was out front and didn't have a line of customers to attend to. After three tries and 15 minutes of waiting he saw his opportunity.

As soon as the last order had been placed and there was no one behind him he approached the counter.

"Hello luv, welcome to McDonalds, what can I do for ya? Oh! I remember you, how's your leg feelin'?"

She was chipper as ever, "it's been doin' better, I appreciate what ya did fer me the other day but I was hopin' ta ask another favor of ya if you'd be so kind."

"Depends on what your askin' if I can be of any help."

"Well, ya see, I was hopin' to do somethin' special fer your manager, Hanzo, but I need to know what time he gets offa work next week so I can have it ready for 'im"

"Oh, do you two know each otha?"

Jesse chuckled, "not exactly, but that's what I'm trying to remedy with this surprise, ya see, I'd like to know 'im a whole lot better than I do now."

She was quiet for a moment before she spoke again clasping her hands together in front of her, "awww that is so sweet of you! 'Old on a sec I'll check the schedule."

She was back in a flash with the information Jesse needed. He made sure to write the hours down so he didn’t forget, thanked the bubbly Lena, and headed out to put the final touches on his plan. Jesse looked at the grassy areas around the parking lot. They mostly appeared to be flat so finding a place to put the blanket shouldn’t be a problem.

Jesse climbed into his truck and headed to the supermarket, he was going to need goodies to fill his basket with.

~~~

A few days later Hanzo plopped himself in his desk chair while he waited for the laptop to kick to life. It had been about a week since he had sent the email to Genji with no reply yet. That also meant it had been about a week since he had seen Jesse last and the archer was starting to get worried that the cowboy wasn't coming back. It would make sense, he'd already shot him down three times but the brunette did seem determined to get Hanzo to go out with him. The ebony haired man decided Jesse was a problem for another time as the laptop screen lit up.

The Japanese man navigated to his email inbox to see if there was anything of interest in there. To his surprise and horror there was an email from Genji. The mouse pointer hovered over the email for a good ten minutes before Hanzo got the nerve to actually open it.

_Hanzo,_

_Firstly, I would like to apologize for your removal from the world archery competitive circuit. Had it been my choice, I would have let you stay. Unfortunately, it was not my decision to make._

_You asked me how I was able to forgive you after the injury your actions caused. It is simple, you were not Haru-san's only student._

_He was the first sensei I ever had. He taught me from a young age but once I reached my early twenties I started to stray from archery. Instead, looking to party and have fun with the people that surrounded me. By the time I reached 27 I decided I was done partying and was ready to get back into archery. I contacted Haru-san asking him to come back and continue to be my sensei. He refused saying that archery was not something I could drop for seven years then come back to and be able to pick up where I had left off._

_He was right and it took me a few months to get back in practice but once I was practiced again all of my expertise came back as well. I was shooting as if I'd never set my bow down. Haru-san resented me for it. He believed that all of the time spent having fun and partying should disqualify me from being able to compete at such a high level. He believed that I had cheated the system somehow because I wielded my bow as if I'd never left._

_So, I knew Haru-san and I knew it was entirely his fault that you were near my equipment in the first place. He filled your head with lies so that you would hate me as much as he did and had you convinced that I didn’t deserve to be in the same bracket as you. I am so very sorry for the hate you had to endure from your sensei once I came onto the circuit and I am so very sorry that he used you to settle a feud between him and I._

_I do not blame you and I did not press charges because I knew in my heart that you were not acting of your own accord. Haru-san set you up and I wouldn’t be surprised if he'd told you the tampering done to my bow would be minor and would have no lasting effect._

_Again, I forgive you and I'm sorry you were subject to Haru-san's hateful thoughts._

_I hope you are well._

_Sincerely,_

_Genji_

Hanzo read the email at least three times trying to let the words sink in. Haru-san had been Genji's sensei at one time. Haru-san had used him to get back at a student who really hadn't done anything wrong. Hanzo was relieved that Genji understood what had happened but at the same time he was crushed to learn that his sensei, a man he had known since his childhood and looked up to, could do something this terrible.

Hanzo sat in his chair lost in thought for what seemed like forever. When he looked up from his hands and glanced at the clock he saw he only had 45 minutes before he had to leave for work. He shook his head slightly and wandered into the kitchen to get himself a drink, suddenly noticing his mouth was very dry.

After his mind cleared some he made his way into his room to fetch his work clothes before heading out. He sincerely hoped that all of the thoughts slamming around in his head wouldn’t keep him from performing at his job as he was expected to.

~~~

Jesse stood back and looked over his handiwork. He had packed all of the containers for tomorrow so all he would have to do was grab the refrigerated ones and throw them into the basket. He had picked out a soft flannel blanket for him and Hanzo to lounge on and he knew what time the Japanese man was going to be done with work tomorrow. He had figured everything out at the firing range so he would not be needed tomorrow and he couldn’t think of anything else that would throw a wrench into his plans.

He moved some of the containers into the fridge and placed the rest in the basket. Once packed, he placed the basket and blanket on the table. He hung up his hat and took off his boots. He had a little bit of time before bed and he wanted to relax secure in the knowledge that tomorrow was going to go off without a hitch.

~~~

Hanzo stood at the front counter with a worried look on his face. It had been 12 days since he'd seen Jesse last. If he didn’t show up in the next 30 minutes that would make it 13 days. Hanzo was seriously worried that he'd seen the last of the brunette and had wasted his last chance to ensure he'd get to see him again. He turned and headed into the back to get everything ready for his departure.

He came back up front 30 minutes later and turned to head out the doors to his car. He called out goodbye to everyone over his shoulder as he made his way around the counter. He had his eyes cast downward as he made his way out.

Just as his hand hit the door he heard a familiar voice to his left.

"aww, ya just gonna leave without sayin' goodbye?"

Hanzo's head whipped up, wide eyed, to see the flannel clad cowboy lounging at one of the tables next to the door. He watched as he stood up and came over to him.

"I got somethin' outside I wanna show ya."

Jesse pushed past the ebony-haired man and Hanzo followed him out to the parking lot working to reset his expression. Jesse walked across the lot and then past the row of cars on the edge. As Hanzo came around the front of the car he saw what it was Jesse wanted to show him. There was a blanket spread out on the ground with a basket siting on one corner.

Hanzo looked up to the brunette, "what is this, Jesse?"

The cowboy beamed down at him, "well, darlin' this here is our first date if you'd be so kind as to join me over here on the blanket. Figured since I couldn’t get ya to go on a date with me, I'd bring the date to you."

Jesse held his hand out to Hanzo and he placed his hand into the larger man's and allowed himself to be pulled over to the blanket. Jesse plopped down next to the basket and patted the spot next to him. Hanzo went over and folded himself down onto the blanket.

Jesse's smile never left his face, "so does this mean you accept my invitation?"

Hanzo allowed himself to relax. He was a little shocked from seeing Jesse after he'd already accepted he wasn’t going to see him today but he was thrilled that the dark-skinned man had come back to see him again. He had to admit his idea was clever. Bringing the date to him so he had no room for escape, not that he would escape given the chance.

He let a small smile grace his features, "I would love to join you on our first date."

The cowboy's smile shined even brighter at the archer's words, "well, shucks darlin', that must make me one pretty lucky guy then 'cause going on a date with you is like a dream come true."

Hanzo felt his cheeks warm at the compliment and turned his face down towards the blanket. He heard Jesse chuckle and then heard rustling from where Jesse was sitting. Hanzo looked up to see the brunette pulling containers out of the picnic basket. He had containers of fruit and other snack foods, placing them on the blanket around him. Hanzo watched him as he popped one open and threw a few goldfish crackers into his mouth before offering the container to the Japanese man.

Hanzo chuckled as he took a few crackers himself, "were goldfish crackers the most romantic thing you could come up with?"

Jesse stopped chewing and looked at Hanzo with a mask of disbelief on his features, "are ya telling me, you don’t think goldfish crackers are romantic?" He shook his head and started to close the container, "I guess I've made a mistake, I cannot possibly be with someone who doesn’t think goldfish crackers are the most romantic food in existence."

A laugh bubbled out of Hanzo and he placed his hand on the cowboy's, "wait! I think it is I who has made the mistake, of course goldfish crackers are romantic," he paused a second and watched Jesse's face return to its easy smile, "because I am sharing them with you."

Jesse's smile grew even wider as he turned his hand to grab ahold of Hanzo's, which was still on top of his own. He laced their fingers together and brought the hand to his face to lay a soft kiss there, "knew I'd bring you around to see it my way."

Jesse released his hand and Hanzo pulled it back to himself with more color to his cheeks now. They fell into comfortable conversation soon after and enjoyed the goodies Jesse had brought. It was a warm day and Hanzo was at ease.

He finally knew why Genji had forgiven him, he knew that his sensei had used him and he wasn’t entirely to blame. It didn’t wipe from his mind the pain he still felt over that day and what happened to Genji but it did ease it. His past actions would always haunt him but now he felt like he could live with it and maybe even invite someone else into his life.

It wasn’t perfect by any means. He was still a manager at McDonalds, he had still caused Genji so much trauma, his sensei had still betrayed him, and he still wasn’t able to compete but sitting in the warm sun on a soft blanket next to an attractive and caring man it seemed manageable at least. Hanzo felt happy for the first time in months and he planned on hanging on to the cause of his happiness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little epilogue six months from the picnic.

Jesse pushed himself up to a sitting position in the bed and cast his gaze down at the man sleeping beside him. Hanzo's ebony hair was sprawled across the pillow his head rested on. His face was slack with sleep and Jesse admired him for a moment before bending down to press a kiss to his temple. The pressure caused the Japanese man to stir but not wake. 

Jesse ran his eyes over the features of his boyfriend's face as he slept. They had been together for six months now and Hanzo's beauty still shocked him some days. Jesse moved his eyes from Hanzo's sleeping face to his arm. 

The tattoo there spread down his entire left arm and across half of his chest. Jesse had been mesmerized the first time he'd seen it. It was so extensive and so amazingly done that it was a work of art etched into the Japanese man's body. He ran his fingers over it again appreciating its beauty. Hanzo had told him that he chose to wear long sleeves most days because he didn’t like all of the attention the ink brought to him, he loved the tattoo but he felt it was something to be shared with those who deserved to see it. 

To think he'd gotten so lucky to have this smart, beautiful and, amazing man fall for his advances. Some days he didn’t rightly believe it. He bent down once more to place a string of kisses down the art on the other man's arm causing another slight stir. 

He laid back down and wrapped his arms around the sleeping man. As he waited for Hanzo to wake up, he thought about how much they'd been through since their picnic in the McDonalds parking lot. 

The ebony haired man had some baggage he was reluctant to share but when he did, Jesse saw how much pain the whole thing had put him through. He remembered consoling him and telling him many times that even the biggest mistakes in our lives are not what define us. 

He pulled the still sleeping archer a little closer to him as he remembered how convinced Hanzo had been that if Jesse knew what he had done to Genji the cowboy would break up with him immediately. It took nearly two hours of consoling before his boyfriend believed that Jesse didn’t think he was a monster. 

Hanzo stirred again and turned over to face Jesse, snuggling into his plush chest. The larger man pressed another kiss into the smaller man's jaw which caused him to crack his eyes open and Jesse rumbled 'good morning darlin' into his boyfriend's ear. Closing them again he snuggled further into Jesse and mumbled back 'good morning'. Both men laid like that, wrapped up in each other, for a while until the brunette offered to make breakfast. 

Jesse got up first and, grabbing a shirt, moved out of the room into the kitchen. He was happy to make his boyfriend breakfast while he snagged a little bit more lazy time. The cowboy found himself happy with most things these days, Hanzo seemed to have brightened up almost every aspect of the brunette's life and Jesse didn’t think he had ever been happier. 

Once the food was almost done Jesse felt two arms snake around his waist from behind followed soon after by the press of a forehead and clothed chest to his back. He chuckled and the two stood like that until breakfast was done. Moving the food to two plates Jesse tried to move from the stove and found he couldn't. 

He chuckled again, "darlin' if you wanna eat then yer gonna havta let me move to the table." 

The smaller man grumbled into his back before moving away to sit at the table. Jesse placed his plate in front of him and Hanzo immediately started to munch away. Jesse sat down and started to eat as well. After a few moments with both men eating in companionable silence Jesse glanced up at Hanzo where his eyes seemed to have gotten stuck. 

"You are staring, Jesse." 

A smile slowly spread across the cowboy's face, "can't rightly help it, have I ever told you how beautiful you are?" 

A small amount of color dusted Hanzo's cheeks, "yes, you have, in fact, if I remember correctly you have said that same thing every day over, about, the last four months." 

The cowboy shrugged, "Can't help it, I just wanna make 100% sure my darlin' knows exactly what I think about him. If that means I havta tell ya yer a beautiful, smart, talented, and amazing man every day then so be it." 

Jesse turned his eyes back to his food as more color rushed to his boyfriend's cheeks. They went back to eating in comfortable silence and a small smile now graced the Japanese man's features. 

Once they were finished Jesse moved the dishes to the sink. As he rinsed them off he called out behind him. 

"Are ya workin' today, hun?" 

"No, today is one of my days off." 

A smile broke across Jesse's face, "does that mean I get to keep you for the whole day?" 

"I would enjoy spending the day with you if that is okay." 

"Okay? Oh, honey bun, I can't imagine anything I'd rather do then spend the whole day with you." 

He turned off the water and grabbed the towel to dry his hands, "what do you want to do? I'd suggest goin' out but", he glanced out the window, "it's lookin' pretty awful out there today." 

The sky was gray, the streets were covered in snow and more was falling from the sky. 

Hanzo shook his head, "I did not want to go out any way, we are training new employees and it is a stressful ordeal, I would much rather just lounge out on the couch and watch a movie or something." 

Jesse came up behind his chair and wrapped his strong arms around the smaller man's neck, "that sounds like a plan to me, why don’t ya go find somethin' to watch and I'll grab us some blankets from my room." 

Hanzo nodded and Jesse pulled away. He watched Hanzo head into the living room as he headed into his room to get the spare blankets he kept there. 

When Jesse returned with two blankets in tow Hanzo had already picked a movie and paused it right at the opening credits. He dropped onto the couch and Hanzo snuggled up to his side before he threw one of the two blankets over them, using the other to cover his legs. Hanzo hit play on the movie and Jesse wrapped his arm around Hanzo. 

About half way through Jesse repositioned himself so he was laying along the length of the couch and Hanzo moved so he was laying between his legs, snuggled into his plush chest. The blankets were moved to cover them once more and both fell back into the movie. 

As the movie came to an end Jesse started to feel drowsy. He glanced down at the ebony haired man pressed into his chest. Hanzo's eyes were closed and his features slack with sleep. Jesse smiled before letting his own eyes fall shut, content to spend a lazy day sleeping and watching movies with the man he loved snuggled up to him. 'I should tell him that. That I love him' was the last thing to cross Jesse's mind before sleep overtook it.

**Author's Note:**

> Any constructive criticism is appreciated and if you find anything you feel is wrong with the story let me know just don't be a jerk about it please.


End file.
